WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, 25 November 2003 — After knocking at the door most of the season, Meg Mallon blew it down at Annika Sorenstam’s expense.
Sorenstam bogeyed the final hole Sunday at the LPGA Tour’s season-ending ADT Championship, allowing Mallon to walk away with her first title of the year.
Playing just in front of Sorenstam, Mallon birdied six of the last 11 holes on one of the LPGA Tour’s most trying layouts to tie for the lead at seven-under.
Sorenstam then missed a 10-foot par putt at the 18th.
“You win some and you lose some,” said the Swedish superstar, who finished the season with a tour-best six titles.
It was the first win in over a year for Mallon, who had posted nine top-10 finishes without a victory this season - including a pair of runner-ups — before capturing her 15th career title.
“I can’t put it into words right now because this year has been difficult for a various amounts of reasons,” she said. “And I just have not been able to pull my game together for four rounds.
Mallon carded her first sub-70 round of the week and claimed the tour’s championship with a 72-hole total of seven-under 281. Mallon also pocketed the 215,000-dollar top prize.
“It’s just great,” she said. “It’s absolutely great. You never know when you’re going to win another golf tournament.”
Cristie Kerr began the day three strokes off Sorenstam’s pace and ended it alone in third, four shots behind Mallon on 285. Beth Daniel was the only other player under par at Trump International Golf Club, placing fourth on 287.
By the time the leaders were coming down the stretch, it was a two-player tournament. Sorenstam birdied the 15th and 16th holes to keep pace with Mallon but hit her tee shot into the left rough at the 18th and had to punch out.
“It was just sitting way down there,” she said. “I didn’t have much of a chance.”
Sorenstam’s only chance to force a playoff was to get up-and-down for par from the fairway. She put a sand wedge within 10 feet but missed the putt, costing her a chance at a season-ending triumph.
“I’m going to let this go in a heartbeat,” she said. “This year has been too great to even look back and say that this was a disappointment. I’m very happy with my year. It’s been fabulous in so many ways.”
This year alone, Sorenstam played in a PGA Tour event, got inducted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and completed the career Grand Slam. It’s a far cry from Mallon’s achievements.
